Much Ado About Broomsticks

Much Ado About Broomsticks.

I

All through my life there has been one thing lacking. I've had money, broomsticks, an education, food on my plate, parents. There's been one teensy weensy thing missing. Friendship-love. I was an accident-my parents didn't want me. They just put up with me, and since I was there tried to mould me into the perfect son. In their efforts was included extreme sarcasm, so when I got to school I gave as good as I got at home, and was rewarded with hatred. My mother also spent hours in front of the mirror, so I emulated her. She said I was a handsome young boy, and turned me vain, which led to arrogance. What I was taught was the gospel truth, and I saw no reason to question it, so I didn't. But then I met Hermione Granger, derided her, mocked her, laughed at her-then watched in horror as she came top at everything. She didn't fit with my parent's teachings. All right, I still hate her (no one slaps me and gets away with it) but she was the first problem that came up. Then I met Boot. He was nice to me, compared to most others at least. He helped me master levitation. When I went home at Easter, I talked about him. Father cut me short-who were his parents? I had to confess I didn't know. When I got back to school, I tentatively asked him. He told me their names, but Goldstein, Terry's ex best friend who didn't like me, overheard and said loudly, "He just wants to know whether they were a witch and a wizard, Terry. For your information, Malfoy, they weren't. Sorry, Terry, you aren't worth knowing any more."

Terry Boot never spoke to me again.

The trouble is, everyone I'm going to meet in life knows the Malfoy name. Before I even finish the sentence "Pleased to meet you, I'm Draco Malfoy," great big Galleons appear in their eyes and they start drooling. Either that or they look disgusted and say shortly that they're a Muggle born and sorry they'll get out of your way.

Crabbe and Goyle aren't friends. They're on the orders of their parents, and besides, they don't have the intellectual capacity to understand the concept of friendship. Nott is also on the orders of his parents and he doesn't really like me anyway, so he's definitely not a friend. Blaise is too smooth to talk to me, and he's lofty towards even me, a Malfoy. My family's only a few generations shorter of purity than his. I don't know what his problem with me is. The Slytherin girls are all part of Pansy's gang and are therefore part of a massive conspiracy to get me to go out with her, so if I made friends with one of them, they'd be reporting back to Pansy after every conversation with information on what time I get up in the morning or some such triviality, so Pansy could bat her eyelashes at me (shudder) and say breathily, "Draco, I get up at eight o'clock too, isn't that a coincidence? Maybe we could meet up for breakfast sometime." then smile 'prettily'. It isn't possible with a face like hers to smile prettily.

Ravenclaw-Terry and Goldstein hate me, ditto the rest of their house, since they overheard that conversation. Most of the Hufflepuffs hate me since most of them seem to be Muggle borns, and Gryffindors-don't even get me started. They all hate me anyway, even Brown who fancies anything male, including that horsy excuse for a Divination teacher, Fiery or whatever. And they're all such goody goodies.

II

Five detentions and it's only the first week. I do not believe this. It's not my fault we're getting so much homework, and I don't do it. Maybe if they stop giving me detentions I'll have time to do it. I've got one tomorrow, one on Friday, McGonagall tried to give me one for Saturday, but I bat my eyelashes and smiled prettily and mentioned I had Quidditch on Saturday, so I couldn't do one then, so that's relatively free, one on Sunday and one each on Monday and Tuesday.

I need a new broomstick. My Comet will fall apart after this next game and where will I be then? Dead. Harry will kill me. Ron can't lend me his, since he's on the team too, Bill, Charlie and Percy don't have them, and Fred and George play for an amateur team in their free time. I wish I had more money. I need a new one.

I had been hoping vaguely that I would get made a prefect and could get a new broom as a present, but no such luck. I should have known it would go to Erica. She's so good at schoolwork. She hates me though. She made a living hell of my first few weeks, which is why I turned to that diary. I still have nightmares about that diary. She made my life hell for two weeks, which pushed me to something that would make my life hell for years afterwards.

I hate her. I really do.

III

"The new captain and Seeker, Potter, heads the team on to the pitch, closely followed by the Chasers, Weasley, Bell and Thompkins, then the Keeper, another Weasley, and finally the Beaters Sloper and Boyle, and that's the Gryffindor team in the first match of the year against Slytherin." Aside from half the team being replaced, Lee Jordan had been as well, since he had left the previous year. Now Colin Creevey commentated.

"The captains shake hands, take their positions, aaaaaand-there's the whistle! They're off, and it's Gryffindor in possession, with Weasley..."

The game was as expected, plenty of fouls and dirty tactics, with Gryffindor in the lead after twenty minutes, fifty points to ten.

Afterwards no one was perfectly sure why nobody noticed the growing cold or the wind, but the Dementors were noticed eventually when the first entered the stadium at the opposite end to the teachers. This may have been luck or serious forethought, but it meant that they were far away from the only people who were able conjure effective Patronuses. If had been forethought, they had overlooked the missing words in that sentence. Teachers were the only ones supposed to be able to conjure effective Patronuses. The members of the DA had been totally forgotten. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Seamus, Terry Boot, Ernie and Zacherias had all managed it. Only Hermione and Seamus in the Gryffindor end were able to do it and they were seriously outnumbered. Players darted around on the pitch, Harry and Ron charging down the Dementor end and everyone else in the opposite direction. Everyone else, that is, apart from two. Only one person saw the figure clutching their broom and heading in a steadily downwards direction, totally unaware of their surroundings.

Draco Malfoy fought the coldness and despair threatening to drown his senses as he plummeted towards the prone figure of Ginny Weasley. Her broomstick was going surprisingly fast for a Comet and he had a suspicion that it was more to do with gravity than the broom. His Nimbus was having difficulty keeping up with her.

He managed it with three metres to go.

IV

Ginny woke up lying on a bed somewhere, but she didn't open her eyes. It sounded like she had woken up in the middle of a very tense silence.

Draco Malfoy had been forced to make small talk with the two people he most hated. They had finished comparing OWL results a very long ten minutes ago, and Weaselfeatures pulled out his wand every time Draco moved. It was beginning to get annoying. He sighed. This time both of them got out their wands and kept them pointed at him.

"Do you really think I'm going to hex either of you, or her? We are right under a teacher's nose, Potter. I didn't think even you were that stupid."

Weasley looked very much like he would like to take all four broomsticks in the room with them-one in pieces-and stuff them Malfoy's orifices. All of his orifices.

Potter did the sensible thing and sidetracked Weasley.

"So, d'you reckon this means the Dementors are completely out of the Ministry's control?"

"Looks like it," said Weasley glumly.

"Meaning my father will be out very soon," said Draco loudly. They ignored him.

"It was lucky we did Patronuses in the DA," said Potter

"Yeah, I mean, did you see Hermione's? It was excellent."

Draco tried not to laugh, especially since Potter was completely unaware of his best friend's enthusiasm for Granger. However, the conversation was making him feel extremely inferior, since he couldn't do a Patronus, so he changed the subject.

"Do you think she'll be alright?" he asked.

"What do you care, Ferretboy?" Ron had taken Malfoy's rescue of his sister as a personal insult.

"I saved her life, didn't I? I think that shows a small amount of caring." He realised straight after the words left his mouth that this was the wrong thing to say, since Weasel turned purple and Potter sniggered.

"Oooh, I think someone's got a crush on Ginny."

"Do not," said Draco, horribly aware that he was turning pink.

"I think you do," said Potter in a sing song voice, aware of the same fact and grinning. All the implications hadn't quite sunk in yet, decided Draco, who was now as pink as he could go.

"Do not."

"Why'd you save her then?" asked Weasel King, finally able to force some words out. Draco opened his mouth, still not sure what was about to come out, and then-

"Yeah, good point, Ron. Why did you save me?" Ginny had been listening to the conversation with growing interest until finally she could stand it no longer.

Unable to think of anything else to say, Draco allowed the words, "I didn't save your broom." to fall out of his mouth. These were pretty much lost in the general hubbub that surrounded Ginny's awakening. Ron pounced on her, asking her if she was alright, Harry leant over her to check if she had concussion, Madam Pomfrey bustled in to administer some potion, and by the time Ginny had fought them all off, Malfoy had vanished.

V

Walking down the corridor leading to the dungeons, Draco Malfoy was having an argument with himself.

I do not have a crush on Ginny Weasley. She's Ron's sister and a Gryffindor and a Dumbledore supporter-

-With really nice hair and a cheeky grin and big brown eyes.

And I don't even like her personality-

What do I know of her personality? She's got spirit, and she's really funny, and she's seen something horrible in her past, otherwise the Dementors wouldn't have done that.

And I only saved her because I would have done it for anybody. Apart from Potter and Weasley. And maybe Granger. And Pansy, because she annoys me. And the entire Gryffindor house-

Apart from Ginny Weasley. Funny, that, isn't it? Almost looks like you have a-

I DO NOT HAVE A CRUSH ON HER.

Do too.

Do not.

Draco and Ginny, sitting in a tree-

Murdering each other. No, she'd murder me. She's too good with a Bat Bogey Hex.

Yeah, she's a really good witch, isn't she? She isn't stupid either, is she? No. What doesn't she have going for her?

Ummmmm..hello? She's in Gryffindor, I'm in Slytherin. It's just not done. I couldn't go out with her.

I think you meant to add 'even if I wanted to' on the end of that.

Shut up. Just because she's nice, funny, clever, pure blooded, a good witch, a good flyer, and really pretty, it doesn't mean I fancy her.

Ahem.

Alright. Maybe it does.